I have been fortunate enough to have traveled to, lived in and traveled extensively in Europe, mainly in my 20’s. Between getting bit by the travel bug in college, I moved to Berlin, Germany as a teacher to live, work & travel for two years. I used the holiday calendar of a German-American school and cheap flights and train rides to my benefit and saw a lot of Europe. It changed my perspective and changed my way of life and I have felt drawn to Europe ever since my first visits. One day I will live in Europe again, maybe not until retirement, but for now going 2-3 times a year will have to satisfy my wanderlust.
After meeting my husband and dating for a year, a milestone birthday was coming up for him and I figured that if I was really considering a life with this guy, we needed to travel to Europe together, so I could see if he could hang. For his birthday, I wrapped up a passport application and European itinerary for hubby’s first trip to Europe that summer, about 6 months later. I built the trip around Paris to visit the famous art museums of the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay & Rodin Museum as well as a trip out to Giverny, since hubby is a trained painter and Monet is his favorite artist. From that point, I looked to see where inexpensive flights were available and my former town of residence, Berlin, was a great deal with former budget carrier Air Berlin (I miss them). I couldn’t wait to show Ken where I lived and traveled during such pivotal years in my life. I decided I wanted an itinerary with three different countries, to highlight the differences in culture so I added Amsterdam to Berlin and Paris for the perfect itinerary. Amsterdam was an easy choice, there is amazing history, art and architecture as well as their coffeeshop culture, being that hubby is a cannabis connoisseur. The itinerary was decided, plane and train tickets ordered and Ken’s passport arrived in plenty of time. So off we went on our first European adventure together.
Berlin, Germany
We arrived in Berlin just in time to catch the hottest recorded heat wave in June’s recorded history! Perfect to bring my air conditioner & ice loving husband. The hotel did have air conditioning, thank goodness I thought of it being in summer, but while living in Europe I was not used to air conditioning in most hotels. Even though we had it, it was still not like the air conditioning he was used to in Florida. He also couldn’t get over everyone who drank room temperature water, soda and even beer! So I excitedly took Ken all over my old neighborhood in Charlottenburg, to walk on the Kudam and go to a bier garden and all he could think of was how hot he was without relief! He still tells the story of how hot it was during his time in Berlin. Ironic, since my two years of memories I don’t remember ever being hot living in Germany!
History and history tourism is big business in Berlin, despite their WWII history and Berlin wall years being a painful reminder for the German people. As an international teacher at a German-American school, who taught English, History & Geography I was a part of numerous conversations about how the German educational system evolved over time. After the war, German schools ignored their recent Holocaust history and ended their studies after learning about WWI. So many children of WWII survivors on any side, would tell similar stories of their parents’ painful silence regarding those years. However, eventually the German education system incorporated both the history part of the curriculum as well as the humanitarian into inclusive lessons of tolerance and acceptance, especially after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 when the Peace Revolution won and the Iron Curtain fell. Today, pieces of the Berlin Wall, in sections, are displayed around the city to see and take photographs. If learning more about the history of the Berlin Wall, I highly recommend taking a walking tour with a guide specific to the era. Berlin was also Hitler’s headquarters for much of WWII and was almost completely destroyed by the end of the war. Many historians and military scholars alike come to Berlin for half and full day tours of historically relevant buildings, locations and events led by a guide that will answer all your questions. In the center of Berlin, near the Brandenburg Gate is the Holocaust Museum, under an architectural design of a maze to memorialize those lost during the Holocaust.
Taking the WWII experience even deeper I decided to take Ken to Sachsenhausen, a Concentration Camp & Soviet Prison Camp that serves as a memorial and museum today. Many travelers think they have to travel to Poland to see Auschwitz, but Berlin and Munich, Germany both have concentration camps that are easy to get to, but will change you forever. The experience starts when you get off the U-bahn (above ground train system) at Oranienburg station in a perfectly nice train station, in a cute little town with well maintained homes and gardens. But then you realize that the prisoners were brought in on that same train station and marched through the streets of that town, to their deaths in Sachsenhausen. When you arrive in the museum, you get audio tours and start by looking at a model of what the full camp looked like, since not all parts are preserved. Then visitors walk into the infamous gates with the words Arbeit macht frei etched into the iron. Arbeit macht frei translates to “work makes one free” or the slang “work sets you free” that were the cruel words of propaganda to give people hope, when there was none left. Give yourself a half day to fully experience this reality of history that is still in our recent history memories.
Visiting Berlin today needs to incorporate the arts, economic and technological industries and seeing the city for the international hub it has become in recent decades. I showed Ken the performing arts area of the city, we saw Blue Man Group (which is really Berlin) and ate a meal in Potsdamer Platz. We tried to get some relief from the heat in Tiergarten, the park, like the locals do with fresh squeezed orange juice…that Ken pointed out was still warm and not as refreshing as it looked. We admired Brandenburg gate and walked the large street called Unter de Linton (under the Linden trees). I showed Ken the stark difference between the West side of the city with German architecture, lots of boutique shopping and restaurants and the Charlottenburg Palace compared to the East where the architecture of Communism and grit falls over the city. In most areas it has been gentrified, by international cuisine and rising rents despite the gloomy flats. Finally, I got Ken to go up in the TV tower out near Alexanderplatz to see the view of Berlin and enjoy a nice (air conditioned to his enjoyment) lunch at the top.
There are two great ways to travel around Europe inexpensively and that is the fly a low cost European carrier or by train. This isn’t always a clear cut answer, you have to factor in two things, time and cost, it isn’t always cheaper to take the train. When you factor in how long it takes from arriving at the airport to leaving the new airport is a good way to figure the amount of time it would take on the train. Plus, most train stations are in the city center and airports are often well outside the city. On this trip, it made more sense to fly from Berlin to Amsterdam so off we went on a short 45 minute flight, then took the train into Amsterdam.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Amsterdam is a great city for a grand factor and a complete transition in architecture. Most of the Netherlands is simple, farms in the lowland, but then the capital city of Amsterdam is as grand as it gets. Central Station and Dam Square are the most grand of the squares in Amsterdam, but there are also lovely canal houses that run along the waterways. Canal cruises are the best way to see the city from the water and get an overview of the interconnected waterways. The Dutch are known for their gouda cheese and have cheese tastings and even day tours to Gouda and the famous cheese market. Amsterdam is also synonymous with windmills and tulips in Spring and there is no better time to visit the region of Holland than from Mid-March to Mid-May, the city is alive with Spring. Amsterdam often gets a negative reputation for some of the seedier things in life, but don’t let the Dutch’s liberal attitudes towards maraijuana and prostitution discourage a trip here. Coffeeshop culture is just relaxed and nothing to fear, take part in the cultural experience or choose not to walk into a coffeeshop. The Red Light District is a tourist trap and way too crowded compared to the rest of the neighborhoods in the city, but you can also take a RLD culture tour and learn more about the history and open-mindedness of the Dutch people.
One of Amsterdam’s most famous residents was a young author named Anne Frank. Even though she did not survive the Holocaust, her history and compassion lives on in her diary. Her Diary was turned into a book after her death, it is the best selling nonfiction book ever…next to the Bible. The attic apartment that the Frank family hid in for almost 2 years has been turned into the Anne Frank house and one of the hardest tickets to get in all of Amsterdam. Tickets only go on sale on Tuesdays, a month before the date you’re booking. Set your alarm for 8:00 am London time, most of the tickets sell out in hours and are rarely released. The Anne Frank House is located in the Jordaan neighborhood, in the canal ring, my favorite neighborhood to visit and stay when we are visiting.
Out of all the places we visited on Hubby’s first European trip, Amsterdam was his favorite and we have been back 6 more times as a couple over the years and have 3 more trips currently planned for this year in Amsterdam. Amsterdam will always be our city! We took the train to Paris since it is only 3.5 hours, and was the least expensive back in the day with European trains being quite affordable. Like everything else in recent years, the prices went up tremendously, but still reasonable for children and youth cards. Always check against flights, sometimes you find a cheap flight and then the train might not be the least expensive option by default. Hubby loved the train, this was his first big train ride that wasn’t a metro and he certainly prefers the large comfortable seats and ability to walk around with ease. I love getting off at the train station in the center of Paris and not all the way out at Charles de Gaulle airport.
Paris, France
Living in Germany, I was fortunate to go to Paris a few times while living in Europe, but I had always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower and take a Seine River cruise with my love and not just a girls trip. I was able to make this dream happen and many more for my hubby on this trip. We stayed at a boutique hotel in my favorite neighborhood in the touristy section of Saint-Germain des Pres. When we entered our hotel there was a crepe vendor next to the hotel ready to serve me my first of many crepes over the next few days. After settling into our room and seeing the cute rooftop terrace attached to our room we decided we needed to get some wine and cheese to celebrate. When we did leave for dinner the famous Les Deux Magots was just a street away and we sat at one of the outdoor terrace seats for two. I am truly a coffee girl, but they are known for their hot chocolate so I had to give it a try and it didn’t disappoint, in fact nothing disappointed at this brasserie.
We took a Seine River cruise on the second night, with a full 3 hour long dinner. The Seine runs right through the main sights of Paris and divides the left and right bank. Major sights like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Tuileries gardens, Pont Neuf and Notre-Dame Cathedral can all be seen from the water without the crowds. We spent at least 4 days in Paris and planned one art museum each day, since that was the most important sights for hubby to see. For a man who went to art school and learned from these master artists, standing in the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay & Rodin Museum and seeing all his heroes work was amazing. I made sure to build in lots of time with my art lover, but I think scheduling more than one museum in a day is too much honestly, mixing up the arts & culture improves the itinerary. Spend one afternoon walking, shopping and eating on the Champs-Elysees and visit the Arc de Triomphe (which many people like going up in better than the Eiffel Tower). Spend another day walking around Saint-Germain des Pres and the Latin Quarter eating at cafes, sampling treats from the bakery and visiting Notre-Dame. Plan a third day exploring Montmartre and then start venturing out for day trips to Versailles, Euro Paris, Giverny or Normandy Beach. Or visit these places for more than just a day and extend your trip to include a few more stops in France.
As I was looking over our photos, I realized something that we did that we shouldn’t… sorry trend setters but putting those love locks on the bridges in Paris (or any other European city) really is a nuisance at best. Cities spend tons of money to remove the locks that eventually ruin the structural integrity of the bridges. We locked our love on this Paris bridge 12 years ago, just to have it unceremoniously removed and destroyed…thankfully the marriage is doing better than our love lock.
Normandy Region of the French Countryside
Since my husband’s favorite artist is Claude Monet and he had always told me he wanted to visit Giverny where Monet’s house, studio and famous water lilies can be visited. This really can be done as a day trip, but we choose to book a room in a chateau, or a French farmhouse, for a few nights. This part of the trip really was one humorous or ridiculous thing after another and hubby can still get me laughing reminiscing about it today. This is where the French language started to humble us, just a bit. Our basics of Bonjour, au revoir and s’il te plait got us by in Paris and I had the added benefit of knowing a few French phrases and Euro sayings. As Ken drove through the dozens of toll booths out to Normandy, the day greeting turned to the evening greeting of bonne soiree and this threw Ken into a dizzy state and he told the attendant “good-bye” twice and realized it after we pulled away. We also got lost trying to find the chateau we were staying at, so I called the front desk to realize they only spoke French. I could introduce myself like any first day French student, “je suis madam Harris” I quickly realized how little French I really could formulate on my own. Thankfully the owner sent out her sweet French husband to find us and we made it to town just to eat the worst pizza of our lives at a place called “New York Pizza” with a subway map on the wall, in a sleepy town in Normandy, run by a Turkish family. The evening improved when an infestation of strange bugs joined us in our room, all hanging from the ceiling. Thankfully they didn’t bite or sting, so we all just coexisted since this was a no air conditioning property and the windows had to be open to catch any possible breeze. Ahhh, great memories.
Normandy Beach
Finally, we made it out to Normandy Beach on our last day and I fully admit I did not do Normandy justice with just an afternoon visit. By the time we saw the Bayeux Tapestry and church, stood on Omaha beach and visited the American Cemetery they were closing up in 15 minutes. We saw what we could and happened upon a Sherman Tank being taken out and shown off to some visitors. It was one of those great spur of the moment traveling experiences that couldn’t be booked but turned out just perfect! Here’s hoping our kids get to see something just as exciting when we take them to Normandy this summer.
We are taking our kids to do a similar trip this summer, for their first European trip. We will spend 2 weeks in Amsterdam, Paris, Normandy and Belgium experiencing with them for the first time all the new sights, foods, cultures, languages and public transportation that are European Cities. We will be taking trains and metros around Amsterdam, then riding the high-speed train to Paris and then the metro around Paris before renting a car to take into Normandy, Belgium and the Netherlands for the last week of the trip. I see this as an opportunity for my kids to learn how to handle themselves in busy cities, how to stay safe and not attract attention and how to read the maps and signs. We are even going to leave the older boys in Paris for a bit of free time to shop and have lunch, but navigate back to our hotel on time, just to test them before leaving Paris. Then off to another read world test, driving a manual car! Hubby owned manual transmission cars back in the day, I had been taught as a teen and Ken gave me a refresher on our first trip to Normany, in the automatic rental car. Today, it is much easier to get a manual rental car in Europe than it was even a decade ago but that has not deterred my husband. He asked me to rent a manual car again on this trip, for the opportunity to teach both our 16 and 19 year old, newly driving sons how to drive stick… a nice way to keep the tradition alive.
Over the next few weeks, follow our family as we take our first family trip abroad to Europe. Ken and I can’t wait to see the expressions on our kids’ faces when they are immersed in European culture and architecture. We want to watch them enjoy delicious meals and probably hate the raw herring I’m going to get them to try in Amsterdam. I look forward to exposing them to the real life version of what their history books have taught them and pushing them to interact by ordering food and buying souvenirs and snacks in their new languages. Join us from planning to lessons learned over the next five weeks. Ciao!
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